Backward changes of edge

Backward changes of edge held for half a circle, first from crossovers and then entered from a forward 3-turn.

BIS Skills 4exercise 1In the syllabus both before and after 01/10/2026

Not checked yet. The requirements on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

The Skills 3 exercise, backwards. That is a bigger step than it sounds: forwards, a change of edge is watched over the toe and the skater can feel the new lobe arrive under the ball of the foot; backwards, the same roll happens behind the body’s line and the only information is the pressure on the blade.

Half a circle of holding it is what makes this hard to fake. A change of edge that the skater is still finishing when the lobe ends can pass in a slalom; here the new edge has to be established quickly enough to be held, and the shoulders have to stay where they were put. Rotating with the change is the standard fault and it shows up as a lobe that shrinks.

The second side arrives via a forward 3-turn, where the first came from crossovers, and that is the real difference between the two sides. A skater comes out of that turn with rotation to spare, and the exercise then asks them to change edge and hold it, so the check has to be finished before the change starts.

Elements

Right backward outside change of edgeRBO to RBI: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling backwards, and the lobe reverses.
Left backward outside change of edgeLBO to LBI: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling backwards, and the lobe reverses.
Left backward inside change of edgeLBI to LBO: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling backwards, and the lobe reverses.
Right backward inside change of edgeRBI to RBO: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling backwards, and the lobe reverses.
Right backward outside crossoverRBO to LBI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling backwards.
Left backward outside crossoverLBO to RBI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling backwards.
Left forward outside three turnLFO to LBI: half a turn into the circle, changing edge and staying on the same lobe.
Right forward outside three turnRFO to RBI: half a turn into the circle, changing edge and staying on the same lobe.

This page lists which elements the exercise calls for and what it is working on. It does not reproduce British Ice Skating's sequence, pattern or wording. For the exercise as published, go to their own document.